CISTOPEDIA

Encyclopaedia Cisterciensis

 A Cistercian Encyclopedia

When Cîteaux was founded in 1098, nobody would have thought that this was the beginning of an order which would rapidly grow and eventually spread globally. In more than 900 years, a vast family has developed from this initial foundation in Cîteaux, a monastic family with a rich historical, legislative and liturgical heritage. Almost 3,000 monasteries were founded; many of them have disappeared in the course of time.

Pope Leo XIII coined the term Familia Cisterciensis for the different branches of the "Cistercian family". Since the Reformation, a large number of monasteries in Germany have been turned into Protestant churches and communities. Their "Community of Protestant Cistercian Heritage in Germany" (Gemeinschaft der Evangelischen Zisterziensererben in Deutschland) stands as a witness for their major interest in the Cistercians.

Our database wants to present every single monastery of the entire "family", which means that comprehensive information is made available on the internet. This ambitious project needs collaboration of as many people as possible all over the world. We are delighted that CISTOPEDIA has already become a shared project: Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christians are involved, Cistercian monks and nuns from many countries and different observances, lay people and religious.

We warmly invite you to also support and participate in the project, so that as our collection of data and photographs grows, our Cistercian community may grow as well.

Rome, April 2008